Pinning and Winning!

We all know the place. That magical land full of every idea known to man kind to make your life everything you’d ever dreamed of. Within an hour on Pinterest, I can have my house organized and re-decorated, a months worth of deliciously nutritious meals and thigh-thickening desserts planned, my kids well-rounded and ultra crafty, heck, I even have my next 100 manicures and 5 birthday parties planned. Towards the end of my pinning, I’m feeling that Pinterest high. I feel successful and motivated, ready to tackle the 500 pins that I have decided will make my life better. And then I close my computer and realize that everything is exactly the way it was an hour before and the Pinterest crash hits.

If you’ve never gotten off Pinterest suddenly feeling a little inadequate in at least a few areas, congratulations but you’re probably the minority. I mean, when you’ve just spent half your day sifting through other peoples organized homes, yummy made from scratch dinners and perfectly dressed and well-behaved children it’s hard not to! Especially when you’re on the phone ordering Dominos as your kid watches their 8th hour of Daniel Tiger and you’re forcing the laundry room door closed to literally hide all your dirty laundry. Oops!

Tired of feeling this way, I knew I had two options: Delete Pinterest or do something about it. Deleting Pinterest was my first choice but then I thought “why!?” There’s nothing wrong with pinning all the things!

It’s downright fun and sickeningly satisfying to pin the hundredth “perfect chocolate chip cookie” recipe you’ll probably never get too. In all honesty, there’s also some actually helpful and great ideas on Pinterest and I really didn’t want to let some of them pass me by. So, I was left with my second option: doing something about it!

Trying to take transition any pin from your board to real life can be a little overwhelming. I mean, I can’t be the only one who takes a look at a recipe with 6,000 ingredients and 7,000 steps and think “oh helllll no!” I knew limits and little achievements were going to be my key to success and thus my Pinterest plan of attack was born.

What is my plan, you ask? It’s actually quite simple. At the beginning of each week I’ll pick ONE pin from a few categories and dun, dun, dunnnnnn….actually do them. Here’s why I think it’ll work. First, I’m doing them MY way. Whatever I feel like I need to change, is going to be changed. If the craft calls for glitter, the glitters getting knixed for something less messy. If the organization pin I’ve picked calls for bins only from the Pottery Barn, I’m taking my happy butt to Target and picking some equally pretty ones whose price won’t make my husband weep. Second, I’m going to use you guys. In true blogger fashion, I’m going to hold myself accountable by reporting back on the pins I’ve picked to you all. You’ll know what worked and what didn’t, what I loved and what I hated. This way, we can all sift through the masses of wonderful but daunting tasks on Pinterest together. One recipe, one activity for Hadlee, one dessert and one random pin a week. Think about it, I pin and we all win! Pinning and winning, ladies and gents, pinning and winning!

Having two kids is definitely an adjustment and it goes without saying that Hadlee gets a lot less time with me then she used to. I think she deserves some one on one, mommy-time so her and I are gonna let Ashton hang in his MamaRoo and have at it! This fun and educational craft is brought to you courtesy mamaslikeme.com.

I know it’s simple but these chicken burritos from omgchocolatedesserts.com have been all up on my news feed lately and I must have them! (Why is it that the hardest part will probably be remembering to take the chicken out to defrost!? I always remember that I wanted to do that..at 5PM..)

And last, but certainly not least the randoms!

I’m picking two this week because..well, I can! 😛

First, I’m forcing myself to take the advice sarahdriscoll.com has to offer on being a repeat mom.

Like I said, having two kids is an adjustment and I tend to try and push myself a little too hard. I’m not the best at letting anyone help me or accepting the fact that it’s okay to ignore the dishes and cuddle my newborn. I would suggest any other repeat or even first time moms read this and TAKE HER ADVICE!

This may or may not be my way of turning a want to get my grown out nails attended to into a “but I promised the blog I’d do it!” Either way, this design from buzzfeed.com is getting done!

Alright, the pins are picked, the promises have been made and there’s no turning back now. It’s time to bring some of those pins into the real world! Join me next week to check in on my desire to turn the seemingly unachievable “Pinterest Perfection” into the more “Pinterest Do-able.”